Aston Martin expansion to include EVs and hybrids

By
Josée Paquet ,
2015-06-02

Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer won't rule out the possibility of adding electric vehicles and hybrids as the company expands its range to at least six or seven models. And this applies to the top-performing sports cars all the way down to the newly announced DBX crossover.

“I see in our future obviously V12s, V8s and probably battery-electric cars,” Palmer told Autocar while attending the 24 Hours of Nürburgring earlier this month. “As time evolves, there’s probably an inevitability to hybridisation, simply because, car by car, you can only downsize so much. I’d rather put a hybrid in there than an in-line four-cylinder.”

The first model to be electrified will be the Aston Martin DBX, which was recently given the green light for production. That being said, the British luxury automaker has no plans for large-scale electrification, instead focusing on boosting sales.

“The DBX and Lagonda are part of that solution, but we can’t afford the multi-billion-dollar bill to engineer all of the active safety-connected car and autonomous car regulatory things that are coming along,” Palmer explained. “However, having that strategic relationship and the 5% ownership with Daimler gives us access to that technology. It works for Daimler and it works for us.”